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Local park, recreation area closed after government shutdown

The gate to Gulf Island National Seashore on Okaloosa Island keeps vehicles out.

NICK TOMECEK / Daily News

By TOM McLAUGHLIN / Daily News

Published: Tuesday, October 1, 2013 at 04:29 PM.

The partial government shutdown everyone feared was immediately felt in Northwest Florida on Tuesday.

As promised, the gates to the Gulf Islands National Seashore were closed and 60 to 70 employees at the parks that stretch from Okaloosa Island to Cat Island, Miss, were sent home.

The road through the seashore area between Navarre Beach and Pensacola Beach will stay open, but the nine or so law enforcement officers still on duty will send away anyone who is not just passing through.

“Visitors will be told to find alternative areas to recreate,” said Dan Brown, supervisor of Gulf Islands National Seashore.

Brown said Monday that campers on the grounds would be told Tuesday that they have 48 hours to leave.

The Gulf Islands National Seashore’s website also was shut down Tuesday. “All national parks are closed and the National Park website is not operating,” flashed on a computer screen before sending visitors to the Department of the Interior’s web page.

Jackson Guard at Eglin Air Force Base closed its doors at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. A phone message asked callers to “keep checking back to see when we will be reopening.”

Jackson Guard provides the permits needed to access some 250,000 acres of Eglin reservation land open for recreation.

The partial government shutdown everyone feared was immediately felt in Northwest Florida on Tuesday.

As promised, the gates to the Gulf Islands National Seashore were closed and 60 to 70 employees at the parks that stretch from Okaloosa Island to Cat Island, Miss, were sent home.

The road through the seashore area between Navarre Beach and Pensacola Beach will stay open, but the nine or so law enforcement officers still on duty will send away anyone who is not just passing through.

“Visitors will be told to find alternative areas to recreate,” said Dan Brown, supervisor of Gulf Islands National Seashore.

Brown said Monday that campers on the grounds would be told Tuesday that they have 48 hours to leave.

The Gulf Islands National Seashore’s website also was shut down Tuesday. “All national parks are closed and the National Park website is not operating,” flashed on a computer screen before sending visitors to the Department of the Interior’s web page.

Jackson Guard at Eglin Air Force Base closed its doors at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. A phone message asked callers to “keep checking back to see when we will be reopening.”

Jackson Guard provides the permits needed to access some 250,000 acres of Eglin reservation land open for recreation.